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Trustees raise tuition again
Hike marks fourth such increase in last 2 years by CSU board
Elizabeth Wilson
The California State University Board of Trustees voted Wednesday 15-3 to raise student fees for fall 2005.
The Trustees plan is to raise student fees continuously until students are paying for either 25 or 33 percent of their total education, Associated Students Inc. Vice President of Finance James Shelby II said.
Currently there is no set percent students pay for their education. It fluctuates every year depending on the state budget, Shelby said.
Newly appointed Trustee Melinda Guzman Moore asked for a postponement of the fee increase vote from the Sept. 14 to the Oct. 29 meeting pending an analysis of how the fee increase would affect students.
"If we are going to increase fees, we're going to have to increase aid," Guzman Moore said.
This is the fourth time the trustees have voted to raise student fees in the last two years.
Student fees have gone up 48 percent since then.
ASI President Josh Wood said he is extremely disappointed in the trustee's lack of judgment.
"Obviously they cannot be trusted to make ethical decisions about our education," Wood said.
Student fees have jumped from $1,428 in fall 2001 to a proposed $2,520 starting fall 2005.
Wood says students cannot trust the trustees to make good decisions on their behalf.
"They refuse to invest in our education." Wood said. "The Office of Governmental Affairs is our lobbying office and we're going to keep pushing."
Starting next year Gov. Schwarzenegger has promised to increase state funding in exchange for a 10 percent increase in student fees until 2007.
A nonbinding contract that the governor proposed calls for both the CSU and the University of California systems to cut spending by $660 million this year.
"I don't think that it will affect us too bad next year. It's the long-term fee policy that they didn't vote on that leaves us open to drastic increases in the future," Shelby said.
Shelby said that although no increase is a good increase, 8 percent isn't so bad.
"Of course we don't like any increase. They need to come up with a long term fee policy that we can all agree on," Shelby said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
anonymous1146
anonymous1146
posted 11/07/04 @ 4:57 PM PST
i loath the fact that the board of trustees decided to raise our tuition again. its bad enough that we have to pay a lot of money for school, but when the raise the tuition even higher its just going too far. (Continued…)
anonymous1146
anonymous1146
posted 11/07/04 @ 9:28 PM PST
If students are the quintessential "future" like practically every politician says we are...then they should, to protect their future (and retirement bennies) they should be giving us the hook-up, not the shaft. (Continued…)
263400A6-CB31-4DF0-8706-8E80A1587A83
263400A6-CB31-4DF0-8706-8E80A1587A83
posted 11/08/04 @ 3:14 AM PST
What you have to understand about politicians, they say a lot of things, much of which sounds good as sound bites. As far as actual work however, I would say most of our politicians are interested in special interest, specifically their own. (Continued…)
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